Talchulitna River 6-29

I talked with Sam Ivey at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game office in Palmer today, he had just returned from a fish tagging run on the Tal. He said they had caught and tagged over 300 rainbow trout and grayling on the river. He said the trout are not as big as the east side fish but they did catch one that was 22 nches long. The rainbows were all healthy and it was a great trip. He also reported that the fisherman were hammering the kings at the mouth. He said the fish appeared to have just arrived and the Tal should be good at the mouth for several more days. I have never fished this river but have heard great fish stories from here. If you get up that way and can share your report with me send an email to akgiauque@yahoo.com

Deshka 6-29

I visited with Sam Ivey at the Palmer fish and game office today. He told me his tech at the weir had been fishing this morning just below the sign hole and caught several fish. He said the river had met escapement for the year, 14,916 as of yesterday, and the run appeared to be about ten days late. Sam indicated that in the past late runs often resulted in a smaller run and that this year may not be like the past two years where there are over 30,000 fish in the river.

Little Su 6-29

I fished the Little Su this morning with four clients. We landed 2 fish weighing 24 and 22 lbs, one was slightly red and the other fish was very red. We had two other fish on but lost them and we missed a couple of soft bites or tail strikes, I could not be certain of the strike and am skeptical. The fishing slowed down after the sun came up, the water remains low and clear and the sun appears to make the fish stop biting. According to the fish survey at 1:30 pm there had been 20 fish caught today but there were only a handful of anglers on the river. The other guides did about the same as I did today, all at or near 50% catch rate.
I noticed today that a few of the upriver holes had new snags in them, no doubt due to the flooding last fall. Some of the holes also had significant errosion and have changed. If you are up river watch for the snags. I do not have another trip booked until next week and will not likely go fishing until then. The King season is winding down on the little Su but there are fish to be caught.

Deshka 6-28

I just got off of the phone with Heather at the Deshka Landing Lodge she said that the fishg was slow today but great yesterday. The water has come up and the fish are moving, Their guide was fishing up from the mouth and the fish were coming through the weir in large schools. There were over 2000 fish through yesterday alone. The Deshka seems to be hit and miss as far as the fishing goes, great one day poor the next. If you head this way be patient and try multiple tactics.

Lake Creek 6-28

Lake creek has had very good fishing reports this week. I visited with a guide at 2:00 as we were coming back from the Pike trip. He and his clients were going pike fishing because they had all limited out. There were 4 boats with 4 people in each boat, 2 of which were guides. I also visited with Ron and he said several of the folks he knows are fishing Lak Creek with nearly 100% catch rates. The fish size remains very healthy, between 30 and 50 lbs, and the morning trips are doing the best. If you know where to fish Lake Creek it sounds like the best bet in the valley this week.

Pike Fishing 6-26-27

I took my nephews and brother-in-law to work on the cabin for an overnight trip to the lake. The boys fished for pike during the day and we worked on insulation and soffits. The boys each caught over 20 pike from the shore. In the evening we had a two hour derby, My 9 year old nephew won with 25 fish, the last weighing between 11 and 12 lbs. We caught well over a 100 fish in two days, the kids accounted for more than half. Most of the pike were 3-5 lbs but we had a few larger with three over 10lbs. These are great trips if fishing the bite and solid non stop fishing action is what you desire.

Little Su 6-28

I fished with two clients today. We caught one king salmon that weighed 34 lbs and lost two others. The fish were all hooked on spin-n-glo's. The fishing has slowed down and the fish are turing color. We saw a moos swim the river about one boat length in front of us today and several eagles. The water leve is very low, as low as it is during late July for silvers. Running the river is challenging and due to the clarity the fish are very skiddish.

Deshka 6-24

I visited with Larry Ficek today and he reported that a friend fished the Deshka yesterday and boated 8 fish with four people in a few hours. The recent rain had raised the water level and the water temperature had dropped significantly. I had a similar report from Ron at the landing, he said several boats had limits or near limits of fish and the water conditions had improved significantly. He thought the rain would help even more and the fish would start moving through the weir. He also speculated that if you could get to the holes around the rock garden fishing would be spectacular. I have never been that far up river but from the reports from other guides I would be extremly cautious if you go above the weir.

Little Su 6-24

I fished with four clients today. The fishing was slow and the weather was wet. The river has come up slightly and I expect it to come up even more3. We landed two fish, 34 & 17 lbs and had two others on. The fish were both caught with Spin-N-Glo's behing Jet planers. We did not have any bites on Kwik fish today. The other guides on the river di about as well as we did today, the fishing was a bit slower than the past week but I expect that this was due to changing water conditions.
I have a group of three in the am and will report on the fishin and water conditions after that trip.

Little Su 6-23

I talked with Dave at Trophy Catch Charters, he had 4 clients today and caught 3 fish. It has been the same through the weekend, 5 or 6 bites a trip. The river has been consistant but has not had a definate high point like I am used to seeing in the past. The water is up slightly but fishing conditions remain good. I have a group the next two mornings and will report back on the fishing each day. We have afternoon and morning trips avalible this week, give us a call at 745-1712 to book your trip.

Deshka 6-23

I visited with a couple of guides today, the fishing on the Deshka remains slow. The midnight Charters are doing better than the day charters. The fish are reportedly bitting between 11 pm and 8 am. The Mouth has hot spots that are different every day and a variety of methods are catching fish. The slow egg retrieve on the bottom with a small spin-n-glo or corky sounds like the best. The guides are spending time at the mouth and upriver. I was also told that the sign hole was absolutly packed with fish and the holes below are full as well. One guide said it was quite the sight watching fish run up the shallows to the sign hole. The water has continued to drop and the river is difficult to navigate but still doable. The guides speculated that if the water comes up with any amount of rain the fishing would be amazing. I must admit it is not much fun reporting on slow fishing conditions, I hope it improves. The fish count yesterday dropped to 260 fish with a total of 9430 fish for the year.

Lake Creek 6-20

I visited with Eric Johnson of Northwoods Lodge this afternoon and the fishing has been good. He had four clients go home with three fish over 40 and one over 50 this weekend. He said the run is indeed late but they are coming in. The thunderstorm last night and warm weather has brought Lake Creek and the Yentna up so fishing was slower today but he said if the water drops tonight he expects the fishing to improve. He did not indicate if the guides were fishing the mouth or up the creek. He did say that it was 87 at the lodge and the Yentna is as high as it has been all year, Eric said the warm weather has brought it up almost 2 feet.

Little Su 6-20

I fished with three clients this morning. We had 6 fish on and landed three. We averaged about two bites per hour but were not able to get them hooked. A couple of the lost fish were large, I hate missing those oppritunities but that is fishing. We had bites on Kwikfiah and Spin-n-Glo's. I am off for a Halibut charter until Saturday. Good luck fishing this weekend.

Eklutna 6-19

I had a friend fish at the Eklutna Tailrace yesterday with his wife. He caught two fish, one was nearing 30 and the other was 15 pounds. They started fishing early and were dne by 8 am. He reported seeing several fish caught and many other fish roll. This fishery has had a later run than the other valley streams in the past two years and I expect that is will improve over the next week or two.

Little Su 6-19

I fished the Little Su this morning with three clients. We hooked and landed a small King at 6:05am, the client chose to let the fish go. We fished until noon ahd had 8 more bites with three fish solidly on for short periods. The fish managed to pull free to my dismay, I saw most of the bites and think that my clients may have been too fast on the hook set. I did not have the time to tell them to set the hook as I do with many of my clents. They were all experienced fisherman and set the hooks hard but we failed to land another fish. I visited with other guides about this and they said they have had similar experiences with fast an hard hook sets. The fishing has been fair to good and the run seems to be slowing.

Little Su 6-18

I fished the Little Su this morning with two clients. We had 5 bites and hooked two fish, two may have been jet planer bites or fish swimming into the line. We lost the first hooked fish and landed the second one, a 30-LB female. The first fish was between 10 and 15 pounds, it came up after it jumped completely out of the water and was the size of a good Silver Salmon. It appeared that the guide average was just below 50% today, there are fish in the river but like the Deshka getting them to bite was difficult. The fishing slowed down after 8 am, it appears the sun may have been a factor. The water had also come up and was dirtier than yesterday. I have two clients tomorrow and four on Wednesday. I will make the last post of the week Wednesday, I am off to catch Halibut for two days.

Deshka 6-18

The report today is courtesy of a close friend. They fished the Deshka this morning and had a couple of fish on but lost them. She said the fishing was pretty good for a couple of hours. They were using eggs and corkies. She said most boats hooked and landed fish but about 8 am it all came to a stand still. They emptied their tackle box trying to get a bite but had no luck. She said the fish were there. I fished the little Su and at 8 am we had a few breaks in the clouds and the sun started shining though, that may be one reason the bite stopped. The weir count is at 7145 fish through with 1249 through yesterday. The previous two days were 742 and 778 fish. The water has dropped slightly.

Lake Creek 6-17

This report is compliments of the North Woods Lodge. I visited with Shan today and they have 6 clients on Lake Creek today. They have landed three kings weighing 42lbs and the other two were in the mid 20's. The other clients were just heading out for the afternoon to try their luck. She indicated the fishing was still a bit slow. Eric had indicated in an earlier report it does not usually pick up until the 15th and if the Lake Creek run is anything like the other rivers I would expect it to peak later than normal as well. Shan said they had some light rain today. She said it was not enough to bring the water up and the water level was less than optimal. It sounds like the water in the entire valley is low this year and fishing will remain challenging until it comes up.

Little Su 6-17

I took two clients out this morning for King Salmon. We hooked three fish and landed two weighing 34 and 14 pounds. I offered to let the smaller fish go but it was the first king salmon of a lifetime and there was no way it was going back in the river. I had the fish cleaned and the folks on the way by 8 am so I went down river to see how I would do on my own. I hooked and landed a 30 ponder in about 15 minutes. I must admit, the bite looks different when it is a client, but it felt great to have the rod in hand on an aggressive take. It was also a great feeling to fight a fish with so much power, they have a tendency to take more runs when you run the boat and fight the fish at the same time. He is in the refrigerator and will make for some great barbecue in the very near future. The fish I caught was turning red but had sea lice on the tail, I have begun to see more kings with a reddish hue and a few dark red fish landed. I have no idea how the other guides did today, I think I was the first to the landing, and they were not back yet.
We have a few openings this week so give us a call if you are looking for some good fishing action on the Little Su.

Little Su 6-16

I had four clients that failed to show today so I took my wife, mother and nephews fishing. We caught one king salmon in the afternoon. It was about 15 pounds. I admit that we did not fish very hard and I scouted a few new holes for quality and snags. We fished about two hours. I visited with the other guides on the river and the fishing remains about the same as it has been over the past two weeks. Nothing exceptional, but very consistent about one bite per hour on average. The water has come up a couple of inches and the warm temperatures and evening showers in Hatcher Pass should bring the water up more. It is now at the approximate 50 year average for the normal level.
A side note the Troopers and the Park Ranger were patrolling the river today, I am sure they were busy as I have seen a variety of violations almost daily and the river has very busy on the weekends. If you go out make sure your flares are current and you have a throwable, these seem to be the most common equipment infractions cited.

Deshka 6-16

I visited with Heather at the Deshka Landing Charters & Lodge she said there are lots and lots of fish in the river. She said the Kings are jumping out of the water every 7 seconds. She said the fishing was poor with short periods of fair fishing. The guides and clients are working hard but only hooking a few fish each trip. The general consensus is the water is to low and warm, causing the kings to not want to bite. She said that there were a few people swimming in the river today and that that is virtually unheard of this time of the year. The warm weather should bring the water temperature up and if this happens before the kings swim up river the bite should resume. There hjas been 1473 kings through the weir as of the 14th with 1277 fish going through that day.

Little Su 6-15

I fished with Clients the last two days and spent the night at the River. The weather was great but the water remains low. Yesterday we caught one fish but had two very large fish on. They managed to find a snagg in thew river to get around and we lost them both. Between the six fisherman I had eleven bites but hooking the fish was a problem. This morning I took out four fisherman and we landed four kings, releasing one that was approximately 5 pounds. The fish weighed 28, 30 and 31 pounds. The fishing today was similar to yesterday, we managed to hook and land the fish though. As a whole the fishing is a bit slow but fairly consistant.

Lake Creek

Ron was at Lake Creek today and said he saw a few fish pulled in. He said the water looked good and the Yentna had plenty of water in it. Shan Johnson with North Woods Lodge at Lake Creek said her guide had 4 client on Monday and they brought in 4 Kings between 30 and 40 lbs. She said they fished for 3 hours. Her guides also went out last night for recreational fishing and caught 8 kings in three hours between the two of them. She said the fishing was still a bit slow but picking up a little each day. If you have the time and the gas Lake Creek sounds like a great place to fish in the very near future.

Little Su 6-13

I had four clients cancel a trip this morning but I made the best of it and took my wife and nephews fishing. I fished a total of three hours and spent 30 minutes of that sitting on the anchor while visiting with another guide on the phone. We caught one king about 15 lbs and had two other bites. The king was caught on a Spin-n-Glo behind a jetplaner back trolling. The river appeared to be busy for a weekday, the parking lot was full and the fishing was slow. I went down river and there were not many fisherman below the landing. The majority must be fishing upriver. I heard that several of the guides were were skunked or caught a couple of fish failing to limit out, I would assume that the regular fisherman did not fare any better. I did visit with two gentleman that had caught two fish, The were fishing from the shore upriver pitching a #5 Chartruse Vibrax. There are fish in the river but they do not seem willing to strike. I assume that it is due to the low water levels, water temperature and boat traffic but I am not a King Salmon so who knows. The water was slightly lower today than yesterday. The fish count at 4pm was 43 fish, yesterday it was 44.

Deshka 6-13

I visited with Ron and he said the fish are being caught on the Deshka. I called Ray Roth, a Deshka Guide, and he was out with a group but is daughter said they are catching fish at the mouth and up river, but the mouth is busy. She also said the water is coming up in the Big Su and that is making the water on the Deshka come up also. I also visited with a group fishing the little Su and they had been on the Deska the previous day. The had landed 8 fish between the three of them and lost as Many. The weir count yesterday was 1277 fis for a total of 2800. I would expect to see the fish count climb to over 10,000 in the next week.

Deshka 6-12

I talked with Heather at the Deshka Landing Charters & Lodge again tonight. They had two boats out today and had 9 fish on. She said the guides thought the fishing was picking up and there were more fish in the river. She said they are busy the next couple of days with trips and she will have a better rport for me next time. The water levels and king numbers throughthe weir look promising for this week and weekend.
I visited with Norm from Rainbow River Charters, he was fishing the Little Su today due to slow fishing on the Deshka the last week. He said he expected the fish to come in any day on the Deshka, He said the sloughs below the Deshka are full of fish, but it is near impossible to catch them in the murky/ fresh water mix. The weir numbers for yesterday are up, there were 543 kings through the weir for a total of 1523 kings for the year. The water is dropping slightly (tenths of an inch) each day but it appears that the run is coming. I will call the Deshka Landing Lodge and Ron for an update later this afternoon.

Little Su 6-12

I guided two guests this morning and we caught two kings. The fish were 34 and 28 lbs and were caught on a K15 Kwik Fish and a Spin-n-Glo. Today was a treat for me; the last fish was a first fish for a young lady under 16. She had one of those bites that she will never forget, she almost lost my GLoomis rod. She fought it perfectly and it made several hard runs. I live for giving everyone a great experience but especially kids. There was allot of boat traffic down river today and the fishing was slow. Most of the guides did well but there were very few other fish brought in. The noon count was 29 when I left the landing. We caught the first fish on the second drift at 6:45am and the second fish at 11:35am. Another guide told me he did not have a bite until 10:00 am and I noticed several guides with multiple lines in the water as the mid day break neared. It appeared that most of them boated their fish after 11:00 am. The water remains lower than the 50-year average on the Little Su, the levels are rising and falling daily as the snow pack melts. Rain would bring the water up and likely improve the fishing.
We saw a yearling moose swim the river in front of us on the way down today and saw the family of geese on the way up.
I visited with Norm from Rainbow River Charters, he was fishing the Little Su today due to slow fishing on the Deshka the last week. He said he expected the fish to come in any day on the Deshka, He said the sloughs below the Deshka are full of fish, but it is near impossible to catch them in the murky/ fresh water mix.

Deshka 6-11

I talked with Heather at the Deshka Landing Charters & Lodge tonight, she stated that the fishing was picking up. They had two boats out today one with 3 clients and the other with 2 clients. Each boat brought back 3 king salmon and had several others on. Heather told me the first boat back had 8 other fish on but had lost them at some point in the fight. She did not know exactly where they were fishing but said the first boat was at the "mouth" because the boat was "big and does not go upriver". She said the fish were all average in size between 20 and 30 lbs and were caught on both eggs and lures. She was not sure of how many fish the second boat had hooked. Heather told me they are looking at this week as being very good king fishing.

Deshka 6-11

Revised, I visited with Ron from Rons Riverboat service and another Deshka guide this morning. The Deshka is heating up, it sounds like I may be a day late with the news but here it is. The Big Su dropped about two feet and the Deshka began to flow clear at the mouth. The water temps are still high but the flow has increased fishing productivity. The fishing in the morning has been good at the mouth. Ron reported that guys are coming and going all day long, indicating they were catching fish all day long. The fishing upstream has been good with some periods of increased activity. The guide informed me that schools of fish were moving through frequently providing his clients with new fish to catch. The weir count as of June 10 was 204 that day with a total of 980 fish for the year. This spike looks like it may be very similar to the previous years, just delayed about 1-week. Assuming that this is the case the next few days should hold increasingly better fishing reports and the fish should be moving up river in larger schools. If I had to pick one day to fish this week, I would try the 15th.
Other reports indicated that the fishing was slow at the mouth and there was lots of boat traffic. I will assume that this was true and I called The Deshka Landing Charters and Lodge. Their boat was down yesterday so they did not fish but they told me the fishing was still slow at the mouth and better up stream. I will visit with the guide this evening and get a full report.

Little Su Kings 6-10

June 10th, I fished with four family members today. The water remains high and was very dirty, this is likely due to heavy boat traffic. We had three bites and landed one king salmon approximately 15 pounds. We started the day late approximately 8am and there were several boats in most of the holes I frequent. I fished several new holes and attribute the low numbers of bites to low visibility. I visited with two guides from Trophy Catch and they caught several fish earlier in the day. We saw another cow moose with a calf, a goose and her gosslings, a beaver or muskrat and two bald eagles.

June 8th, I fished this morning on the Little Susitna river. I had three clients and each landed a king salmon. The fish weighed 30, 25 and 15 pounds. The fish were caught on K15 Kwikfish, WiggleWart and a Spin-n-Glo. All of the fish were dime bright and two of them had sea lice. I noticed a few fish rolling in the lower river and saw several fish on as I returned to the landing. I visited with another guide from Trophy Catch Charters and he said the fishing was good for him as well but there is still not the numbers of fish stacked in every hole that is to be expected this time of year. The water has come up significantly and remains dirty. We saw two cow moose and their calves this morning on the run down river, as well as a beaver, eagles, cranes and shore birds. It was a great day to fish.
As a side note Larry Csonka was on the river yesterday and today with a film crew and I expect to see some great fishing adventures next season. This is the second time I have fished the same water with Mr. Csonka this year. Previously I fished the winter King derby in Homer and he was there with his crew. It appeared that he landed a 30+ pound fish today. He was very gracious as he visited with fisherman at the landing and he even signed a few autographs.

Deshka River & Lake Creek

June 8th, The fish count through the weir was at 246 king salmon yesterday but the water had dropped slightly. I called Ron but he was likely on the water today, has told me yesterday that is the water did not come up and cool off the fishing would not likely improve. I called a lodge and they indicated that the fishing was slow at the mouth but they went up river and limited out in the faster water. The guide also told me the water has come up slightly today. If you head up river watch for the rocks and be cautious on the corners, there are lots of boats running the river.

I Talked with Eric Johnson of the Northwoods Lodge at Lake Creek this afternoon and he told me the fishing has slowed down a bit. He indicated that this was normal as the first surge are fish headed for the Talachulitna River, Saturday creek and other waterways on the Yentna, Skwentna and Hays river drainage's. He said the peak of the run in normally between June 15th and 25th. The water is up on the Yentna River and it is a bit early to forecast the Lake Creek run.

June 7th, I visited with Ron at Ron’s Riverboat Service this morning. He said the water on the Deshka has come up about 2 ft this week and backed the mouth of the Deshka up into a slow moving slough. If the Deshka remains slow moving and the water temperatures remain warm I expect continued slow fishing on the Deshka. The AKDF&G Weir count was 15 fish yesterday with 264 for the year. Ron said he knew three fisherman that went out seperately and they brought back one king. The best bet is to try upriver from the mouth where the water is moving faster than the lower river. Ron also said that a few kings were caught at the mouth of Lake Creek but it is too early to gauge the strength of that fishery.

Little Su Kings 6-8

June 6th, I visited with another guide that fished the Little Su. The water has come up and I expect it to continue to rise through today. The water was dirty and visibility is low, the fish however are coming into the river as he saw more roll today than previous days. He fished hard and caught 4 fish using Kwikfish, Wigglewarts, Tadpollys and Spin-n-glo’s. The fish did not seem to have preference. I have three guests on the 8th and will report back in the evening.

June 4th, I did not fish today but the water level is rising according to the USGS gaging station web site. There are rain clouds over the headwaters of the Little Susitna River this evening and I expect the water to come up even more. I expect the fishing to improve over the week due to improved conditions and the maturation of the run. I spoke with another guide and he caught 4 king salmon with 4 fisherman this morning.

June 2nd, We fished a late night trip with three guests. The river is still very low and fishing conditions remain challenging. We had two bites and landed two King Salmon. The third fisherman had a great time even without having a bite. We saw eagles, geese, ducks, shore birds, beavers and a muskrat on the trip. The river has more fish coming in with every tide and I expect the fishing to pick up as warm day temperatures and evening rains bring the water level up.

Pike Fishing May

May18-28
I took two trip’s to do some Pike fishing and cabin building for the first time this season. It was great to get on the river and get some work done. The water is low for this time of the year but recent rain and warm weather should bring the water levels up. We are building a 16 X 24 cabin for our pike-fishing guests and have the building weather tight. I will be insulating and putting the windows in during my breaks in salmon fishing. We fished in the evenings and caught several pike each between 2 and 12 pounds with two pike pushing the 15-pound range. A close friend was fishing the lake with his family as well and they caught well over 100 pike in three days with several fish in the 12 to 15 pound range as well. We saw moose, including a calf less that a week old, eagles, shore birds, beaver, muskrat, and a fox on the trips.

Greg